EDDIE DAVIS, FORMER NIGHTCLUB OWNER, DIES

By LESLIE BENNETTS

Published: April 24, 1987

Eddie Davis, an entertainer and nightclub owner who ran one of New York's leading clubs during the 1930's and 40's, died on Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 92 years old.

Mr. Davis was the co-owner and manager of Leon & Eddie's, which began as a Prohibition-era speakeasy in a brownstone basement at 18 West 52d Street. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the club moved across the street to 33 West 52d Street, where it endured for 20 more years. During its heyday in the following decade, Leon & Eddie's was one of the most famous drinking and entertainment places in the world.

Mr. Davis, who was born in Philadelphia, was one of 12 children of a haberdasher. He left home at the age of 14 to join a carnival, and worked as a barker before and after military service in World War I. He began to work as a singer in Philadelphia in 1924 and later in Atlantic City nightclubs, and moved to New York for a job at the Club Everglades, where his colleagues included Ruby Keeler and Barbara Stanwyck.

Mr. Davis joined forces with Leon Enken in 1928, opening Leon & Eddie's in its basement hideaway. Mr. Davis, a gravel-voiced singer with a repertory of 1,000 songs, served as host and chief entertainer at the club, perhaps the most boisterous on 52d Street - a lively stretch crowded with cabarets, cafes and restaurants. Serving as a daytime manager and sometime bouncer at Leon & Eddie's in the early years was Toots Shor, who would open his own restaurant at the same address after Leon & Eddie's closed its doors. Stars and Unknowns

In addition to Mr. Davis, Leon & Eddie's featured an array of other performers who ranged from Jackie Gleason and Alan King to Eydie Gorme. A popular feature at the club was the Sunday-night celebrity party, which honored such stars as Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Milton Berle and Harry Belafonte. In addition to presenting well-known names, Leon & Eddie's also developed a reputation as a place where talented but relatively unknown performers could find an opportunity to be heard.

Mr. Davis appeared in two movies, ''The Ship Cafe'' in 1935 and ''Blonde Crazy'' in 1937, as well as in the musical comedy ''Glad To See You'' in 1941.

In 1946 Mr. Davis and Mr. Enken opened a second Leon & Eddie's in Palm Beach, and the following year they dissolved their partnership, with Mr. Enken retaining the club in Florida and Mr. Davis taking over in New York.

Mr. Davis, who was one of the original charter members of the Friars Club, closed Leon & Eddie's in 1953 and moved with his wife to Ft. Lauderdale. Mrs. Davis, the former Clementine LeNormand, died in 1981. The couple had been married 62 years.

Mr. Davis is survived by a son, Eddie Davis Jr., who lives in Naples, Fla., and Tenafly, N.J.; a daughter, Edwina Auel of Sacramento, Calif.; 12 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 10 A.M. today at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on Madison Avenue.